The Altered Diet

"You know you're going to make yourself sick," says my partner, Brian. We're at one of the many frozen yogurt shops in Sacramento and he's eyeing my chocolate and mint monstrosity that's covered in crushed Thin Mints and mini-M&M's.

"You don't know that," I reply.

"I do because everytime you make some giant sugar bomb like that you spend a good half hour curled in the fetal position cursing whoever invented refined sugar."

"Not every time. Sometimes I get the sugar free yogurt and top it with almonds and fruit and I feel fine," I smirk.

"Yes. Exactly."

It's always a dilemma for me these days when I go to the yogurt shop. While getting older is awesome in that I can hire movers instead of bugging my friends to help me lug my sofa, and I actually appreciate it when my parents buy me socks, I find my body can no longer handle anything and everything food wise.

Dairy only in about 1 cup portions and refined sugar to a minimum at best. While this means I can still eat cheese and I've learned to cook with various other sweeteners, it kinda kills the fun of certain things. Things like yogurt covered in enough candy make a a room full of preschoolers go spontaneously diabetic.

It got me to thinking about the various alternatives and changes I'm going to have to make to my diet. It's nothing too drastic. Less sugar and less milk. It's not the end of the world. Sorta.

Have any of you had to alter your eating habits partway through life? What did you do and how did you deal with it? Please let me know in the comments.

And Brian was right; I did spend the next half hour lying in a fetal position swearing at myself.

Yes, recently I eliminated gluten, sugar and diary from my diet. I'm a 51 yo woman, and *had* rheumatoid arthritis, gastric reflux, migraines, persistent yeast infection, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic pain. There are times I can't resist, and like you, pay dearly. Gluten - all joints ache, sugar - yeast infection, dairy - IBS symptoms. I no longer take 14 different prescription medications (2 of them injections) and have lost almost 40 lbs. I try to focus on what I do get, not what I can't have. And I get to eat lots more of everything else. Avocados are my favorite, followed closely by roasted chicken or pork, then hummus and corn chips. I too have a sweetie that reminds me, like yours, that I might not want that cheese.

jfain 12:28:37 PM on 10/11/11

I realized in my 30s wheat was making me sick so I had to cut it out. Then a couple of years ago I decided to give up diet soda. I was severely addicted to it. After I lost the taste for it I also found I lost the taste for almost any kind of dessert, everything was sickly sweet and also I lost the taste for salt. I used to love pickles. Now I buy the low sodium pickles and they almost knock me over with their saltiness. So that’s all actually kind of sad but on the bright side I’ve learned to make pretty much anything I want gluten free and I can taste sugar now in lettuce! WOW!

kaski4 09:20:09 PM on 10/10/11

At 54 I can no longer eat beef, soy, egg whites and dairy...it's the protein. it is not as difficult as I thought it would be. A very healthy, fresh diet of fruits, vegetables and some pork and chicken.

amberola 12:17:55 PM on 10/10/11

At the age of 53 I am having to replace raw garlic with roasted to avoid major heartburn !

gardenfreshtomatoes 12:11:54 PM on 10/10/11

Orange Juice. I don't know why, but I just can't tolerate it anymore... No other issues, but some things I used to love, I really don't care for anymore. Like Oreos...

Mhlia 10:32:13 AM on 10/10/11

This has happened to both my husband and me. We're in our mid-30's and in the last year he's become lactose intolerant to the point where the occasional cheese is okay (with lactaid), but milk, ice cream, yogurt, etc are out. He also now has a hard time digesting red meat.

I developed a serious inability to eat anything greasy or oily and pasta now makes my heart race and gives me the shakes. So... good bye pesto and hamburgers. We eat the very occasional pizza but that involves also taking lactaid (for him) and zantac (for me) or we both pay.

We were talking about our new habits last night after a trip to Wisconsin that involved too much grease and cheese. While we like the many chick peas, fish, turkey, and occasional chicken of our current diet and enjoy the even more rare red meat - we miss not having to think about how much discomfort we'll be in if we eat something. Especially when visiting younger friends who haven't experienced this yet!

KPin 09:40:28 PM on 10/09/11

Coconut milk is pretty much a miracle! I've always been lactose intolerant, but it's gotten worse over the years so I've had to get creative with milk substitutes. Coconut milk makes great ice cream, can be used as a milk or cream replacement in baking and cooking (soups, sweet potatoes, etc. - just check the fat content to make sure it's full fat if you're replacing cream), and coconut oil can be used to replace butter in baking since it is a saturated fat (you have to add water when sub-ing it out though).

Raw cheeses can be more easily digested by some people with lactose intolerance, as well as goat cheeses.

For people who are sensitive to sugar, I find that maple syrup is much easier to digest and it has a lower glycemic index, too.

Nikki_in_Cali 09:28:02 PM on 10/09/11

I've never been a fan of walnuts so I rarely eat them. My friend gave me a homemade health-nut fiber "cookie" that had finely ground walnuts in it. Wow, my tongue was completely numb for hours.

Nothing has really affects me yet but my sister can't handle anything dairy, eggs, garlic, beans, cabbage or greasy foods. Poor thing, she still eats them because she loves them but then spends hours in pain. I'd probably have to deal with the pain, I could never give up garlic!

GrannysKitchen 03:19:48 PM on 10/09/11

After serious soul searching and massive belly aches, I restricted my intake of chocolate. Hershey's is still okay in occasional small quantities. Most brands are off limits. The pleasure is simply not worth the discomfort.

serena72 02:00:27 PM on 10/09/11

Milk and ice cream are my friends only about half the time. I now only eat ice cream I've made, and only in small quantities. Milk is tough because I crave it. If I wait until lunchtime, I have better odds of being okay. As much as I love sweets, I feel like hell if I have a full serving (last night's baked apple with ginger ice cream did me in for hours). Everything used to give me heartburn, but now I take medication and can enjoy margaritas without worry. Oh, and everything now makes me fat. Damn.

Lavah 04:29:22 PM on 10/08/11

My breakfast always used to include at least 1 cup of milk. Around the age of 30, I developed some lactose intolerance, and had to give up milk in quantities more than about 1/4 cup. That was hard! I started eating more yoghurt, but after a few years that also became problematic. I now have soy milk on my cereal, limit my milk and yoghurt intake to small amounts (and times when I don't need to be out in public), and eat a hard-boiled egg with breakfast most days. Cheese is sill mostly okay, except for my extravagant Roman mac and cheese with bechamel, which I no longer make for company. I also simply can't eat as much as I used to, despite year-round triathlon training, unless I want to buy a whole new wardrobe. Most days I try to choose between dessert and alcohol.

j_ag 03:57:27 PM on 10/08/11

Adulthood brought me a clear message I was unhappy to receive: wheat doesn't like me. Ditto for sugar, and I certainly can't drink like I used to. *sigh* But I still get my kicks somehow, and I've gotten pretty creative with other grains so I barely feel wheat's absence.

mizk1 03:06:53 PM on 10/08/11

After I had my children - I found I could no longer handle alcohol! Even a glass of wine gave me a hangover the next day. So deciding between being sick and headachey and the children screaming for attention OR not having alcohol and having a fairly calm day - guess what won out? Since then - no alcohol in my diet!.